Northeastern Co-op Fellowship/Co-ops in Service to our Neighbors Program

The American City Coalition - NU Co-op Fellowship NU Co-ops in Service to our Neighbors Program Position Description

The American City Coalition (TACC) seeks a Northeastern University (NU) student to work as a NU Co-op Fellow in our Roxbury-based office (2136 Washington Street, Roxbury, MA 02119) for six months (January-June 2026).

About TACC:

The American City Coalition (TACC) is a 501(c)(3) organization based in Roxbury’s Nubian Square. We tackle community-identified barriers through economic and workforce development, research, and policy strategies that expand pathways to meaningful opportunities in communities of color.

TACC supports the economic, social and physical wellbeing of communities through economic and workforce development, research, and policy strategies. Our work focuses both on institutional systems change as well as intentional programming that connects communities with opportunities. Our work begins and ends at the community level, and we know the more we listen to their needs and feedback, the greater our impact. At TACC we hope to be a model for positive change, where communities are empowered to succeed. We do this work because strong cities are built on shared prosperity.

Currently, TACC manages three mutually-reinforcing equity initiatives that tangibly benefit lower-income residents of Roxbury:

• Roxbury Worx is a Roxbury-focused workforce development initiative launched by TACC and partners in Fall 2022 with support from the Commonwealth’s Executive Office of Housing and Economic Development that is bringing the untapped talent of Roxbury’s hidden workers and middle-skills workers into the talent pipeline in three industries: Biotech/Life Sciences, Healthcare, and Green/Blue Tech. By developing a Roxbury-focused workforce development model that is responsive to resident-identified barriers to accessing meaningful jobs, Roxbury Worx is changing employer recruitment and retention practices, developing pathways to in-demand roles using existing educational assets, and engaging more Roxbury residents in the workforce. By focusing on hidden workers and middle-skills workers, Roxbury Worx will change the narrative about Roxbury workers from one that is deficit based (e.g., low-skills, low educational attainment) to one that is asset based (e.g., unique capabilities, lived experience) and embraces the diversity and multiplicity of talent that exists in the community.
• Savor the Square: Launched in 2020 with funds from the Commonwealth’s Urban Agenda Grant Program, Savor the Square is a joint initiative of TACC and Roxbury Main Streets and implements recommendations from the (2020) in which residents/businesses voice a strong need for Saturday and evening events. Savor the Square, Nubian Square’s seasonal open-air marketplace located on the Roxbury Branch Boston Public Library Plaza, brings together existing brick-and-mortar businesses and entrepreneurial vendors into one marketplace located at the core of the business district.
• Waterways: Connecting Residents for Roxbury and Dorchester to Boston’s Waterfront: In 2018 with support from the Barr Foundation, TACC launched Waterways, a long-term equity initiative to increase access and utilization of Boston’s waterfront for recreation, culture/spatial justice, employment, and economic development. TACC is collaborating with a range of implementation partners to advance strategies that respond to resident-identified barriers to access and utilization, and catalyze sustained engagement so that more Roxbury and Dorchester residents are invested in and connected to the waterfront. Ultimately, the aim is to give voice to a broader group of residents from Roxbury and Dorchester to impact programs, policies, and accessibility so that as the waterfront continues to evolve, it does so more equitably with the needs and interests of the Roxbury and Dorchester communities actively considered and implemented.

TACC is led by Willie Bodrick, II, J.D., M. Div., President and CEO. Bodrick is the Senior Pastor of Roxbury’s Historic Twelfth Baptist Church and an outspoken advocate for social and economic justice. He serves on the Governor’s Advisory Council on Black Empowerment. TACC currently has a full-time staff of four. 75% of staff are residents of Roxbury; 75% of staff are Black; and 75% of staff are women.

About the NU Co-op Fellowship:

**The fellowship will be an opportunity to work at a unique, place-based organization focused on racial equity. **The fellow will learn about the organization’s core activities (research, policy, workforce and economic development) and meaningfully contribute to our three equity initiatives (Roxbury Worx, Savor the Square, Waterways).

The fellow will work closely with TACC staff and organizational and community partners on a range of tasks from research and data analysis to program/event planning/implementation and community engagement. We seek a candidate for this position who is excited about TACC’s work and has:

• Commitment to advancing racial equity coupled with some knowledge of Boston’s current racial inequalities;
• Demonstrated interest in research, policy, workforce development, or economic development;
• Analytical skills;
• Competency to think creatively and strategically about complex community/urban challenges;
• Strong communication skills including listening, networking, relationship building, visual, as well as writing;
• Curiosity, motivation, enthusiasm, and ability to work independently and as a member of a team;
• Willingness to jump in and be helpful as needed with public program/events;
• Cultural competency; and
• Multilingual skills welcome.

Projected learning outcomes and professional takeaways include: Community-based research skills (e.g., qualitative data collection and analysis); professional contacts in the Roxbury community, municipal government, and in the life sciences/bio tech, healthcare, and green/blue tech sectors; knowledge of advocacy and community engagement strategies/processes that drive outcomes; resource development (e.g., grant writing); familiarity with the history of Roxbury, the multifaceted talents of Roxbury residents, and the range of issues impacting the Roxbury community.

Co-ops In Service to our Neighbors Mission Statement:

The Northeastern University Co-ops in Service to Our Neighbors draws upon the strength of Northeastern as a large urban university a center for the practice of cooperative education. Co-ops in Service to Our Neighbors promotes civic responsibility and engagement through career choice. The students in Co-ops in Service to Our Neighbors work at 6 employers in the immediate Northeastern community (Fenway CDC, Innovation Studio, Madison Park CDC, Mission Hill Neighborhood Housing Services, The American City Coalition-TACC, and the Fenway Community Center).

The program has three key components:

• The employment of undergraduate students to work as full-time staff members in targeted community-based agencies with the goals of meeting educational, public safety, environmental, and human needs of Boston neighborhoods and citizens.
• Provide students with quality supervision and work environments, which maximize student, professional, civic and personal development.
• Participation in 2-3 peer cohort reflection seminars over the course of the semester.

Concurrent Reflection is an integral part of this program. Students who apply for the program should understand that in addition to their employment in a community-based agency, they are expected to participate in 2-3 short cohort reflection seminars during part of a weekday morning (paid) while on co-op.

Hours and Pay Rate:

This is a full-time, 40-hours per week position at 2136 Washington Street in Nubian Square. The position will require some evening and weekend work hours. The pay rate is $24/hour for 40 hours per week.

As an EOE/AA employer, TACC will not discriminate in its employment practices due to an applicant’s race, color, religion, sex, national origin or ancestry, age, sexual orientation, gender identification, genetic information, veteran or disability status or any other factor prohibited by law.